Two men were arrested near a Virginia substation for what authorities described as a burglary.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said deputies responded to the 26000 block of Auburn Farm Road in Aldie, Virginia, at approximately 12:38 a.m. Saturday to a report of “two males cutting a fence” in an area of Dominion Energy property that is leased to another entity.
The sheriff’s office did not specify what entity.
Deputies quickly arrived at the scene and were able to locate the two suspects who had breached the electrical storage yard and place them in custody, according to the sheriff’s office.
Christopher J. Macmillan, 51, and Joshua L. Settle, 38, were arrested in connection with a burglary in Aldie at an electrical storage yard on Dominion Energy property. (Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO))
Investigators said a bag with wire cutters was recovered at the location.
“While the incident remains under investigation, all indications point to the subjects being there to steal copper wire. Dominion Energy officials confirmed there was no breach of an adjacent Dominion Energy Substation,” the sheriff’s office wrote on Facebook, describing the incident as a “burglary.”
Christopher J. Macmillan, 51, and Joshua L. Settle, 38, both from Manassas, were charged with possession of burglary tools, attempted larceny, trespassing, destruction of property, and conspiracy to commit larceny. Both were transported to the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
Crews in Carthage work to restore power to tens of thousands in Moore County, North Carolina, after an attack at two Duke Energy substations in December. (Peter Zay/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Macmillan is being held without bond and Settles was given a $7,500 secured bond.
Virginia State Police and the Fairfax County Police Department Helicopter Division provided assistance.
While the substation was not breached in this incident and local investigators have not yet exposed any more sinister plot other than to steal copper wire, Homeland Security has been on alert about the U.S power grid being vulnerable to domestic terrorism, noting online calls to sabotage critical infrastructure.
A female Maryland ex-con is seen wearing tactical gear containing a swastika and holding a rifle and with a pistol in a drop holster on her left leg in photos included in an FBI affidavit charging her in a Baltimore power grid attack plot. (FBI)
Last week, the FBI arrested a Neo-Nazi leader from Florida and a female ex-convict from Maryland in connection to an alleged plot to attack five substations to sabotage the Baltimore power grid.
Last month, two men from Washington state were arrested and charged with attacking four substations over the Christmas holiday, leaving thousands in the dark and cold. One of those defendants allegedly told investigators the motive was to cut power to burglarize an unnamed nearby business.
Washington power grid attack suspect seen on surveillance footage provided to the FBI at one of four substations attacked on Christmas. (Department of Justice )
Still no arrests have been made in connection to the December substation gunfire in North Carolina’s Moore County that left more than 45,000 customers without power for several days. The FBI was monitoring whether more gunfire at another substation in Randolph County, NC, in January was somehow related.
